What is The Lexus of Guitars?

[Andromalia]

You've got that backwards. Toyotas are workhorse and affordable cars, Hondas are overpriced due to the power of dreams (aspiration to own a real ESP).

Nowadays the new Civic is actually very decently priced as it seems half of the regular companies are trying to be BMW or at least priced as such. A full trim hybrid civic is 37K€. The competitor Peugeot model nowadays is over 50K.

 

[soliloquy]

Lexus of cars....as in...price? or quality? or looks? or...?

not reading through the 5 pages of this thread.

I think a quality guitar for a great price is Edwards. Its a sleeper brand as it gets overlooked due to their LTD and ESP products, and that Edwards is a Javanese only brand. But their QC is tight; unique features; great looks; great specs; and they are actually affordable when compared to their Chinese, Korean, Indonesian and Vietnamese competition that exists via other brands.

If i was looking for another guitar around the $1500ish CAD mark, it most likely would be another eddie.

 

[drmayhem]

ESP is the Lexus of guitars. E-II is the Toyota of guitars. Ibanez J-Custom is the Acura of guitars, and Prestiges are the Honda of guitars.

I'm assuming by "Honda" you mean cheap, with terrible quality and reliability? ESP are certainly fairly consistent, but not anywhere near top quality (a bit like Lexus).

Of all my guitars, the Charvels and the Ibanez's are probably consistently the best quality. Gibson has some excellent ones, but you never know until you check.

 

[StevenC]

Nowadays the new Civic is actually very decently priced as it seems half of the regular companies are trying to be BMW or at least priced as such. A full trim hybrid civic is 37K€. The competitor Peugeot model nowadays is over 50K.

I'm getting a Honda E for a few days soon and am very excited. Much like I was excited to play some of @narad's ESPs.

 

[tedtan]

Lexus of cars....as in...price? or quality? or looks? or...?

I take it to mean “boring enough that only old ladies want them with a smooth enough ride that the neighborhood gang bangers can use it in a drive by without worrying about hitting a pothole and throwing off their ‘aim’”.

 

[adrianb]

A high-end Ibanez from 'Ibanez Rules!!!' with a setup by Rich would be a very safe option.

+666. And Rich will have gone over the instrument and found the issues.

 

[complex-barb.0t]

+666. And Rich will have gone over the instrument and found the issues.

Just heard about this guy and checked out his website. He’s so wacky I might throw some business his way. I like that he is actually setting it up properly instead of just pretending to do so like some stores do.

 

[Themistocles]

While I adore my Kiesel, and when done correctly, Kiesels make some damn cool looking guitars, all that being said I'm WELL aware that Kiesels are that car that you see with literally all the autozone chrome pieces glued all over the car and bad wrap tints, usually an '05 Nissan Altima or something.

nah... some are overacessorised with too many options but the build quality and design is definitely not nissan. They are all ultra solid these days. Like an Audi or Acura. You really cant fault them for some of what their patron's commission (most dragonburst etc but even their basic burst and fades are pretty tastful, rawtone is exceptionally good and actually a cost saving option). That said they build some lovely stuff... seem to have the best black limba stock of any builder that makes over 50 guitars a year and a lot of other woods too. Flamed royal ebony fretboard (mines got that), flamed swamp ash, raw tone top... mines got that... and for less than 3k (see my pic). Hard to beat that, especially if you have some design chops... their sales staff are experienced and can help you sort out a great build without lots of sales pressure either. Hell Flock talked me out of getting my vader 7x chambered... we were finalizing stuff and he and I both felt, yeah, maybe too many extra overtones. Who does that? He knew the build really mattered. my year plus use in the studio review is coming soon now that I am about to start mixing... before I was to busy writing and tracking.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

No amount of fancy woods will make up for the fact that Kiesel only offers body and headstock shapes that look like they were drawn by a tween who isn't paying attention in math class.

 

[Themistocles]

No amount of fancy woods will make up for the fact that Kiesel only offers body and headstock shapes that look like they were drawn by a tween who isn't paying attention in math class.

so the Solo is basically a fender telecaster. Leo fender was an awfully successful tween then. For me the Vader is his best design and doesnt even have a headstock... kind of a cross between a steinberger GU7 and Speed racer's Mach 5 Car. Both good things to draw from. Also Alan Holdsworth designed his model... not certain if he paid attention in math but that doesnt matter if you are Alan Holdsworth does it?

 

[wannabguitarist]

ITT: people who don't know a lot about cars

 

[groverj3]

You've just asked everyone for their favorite brand.

 

[groverj3]

What's the nexus of guitars? Like... the single point that every guitarist can agree on

The guitar singularity, if I may be so bold.

Such a thing does not exist. Guitarists will never agree. We will continue creating new adjectives for tone in order to chase after it, we will forever disagree over the most important features, etc.

And I will love every bit of the discourse. Thank you, ss.org. Never change.

 

[budda]

Someone said hondas are unreliable and im still trying to figure it out

 

[jwguitar]

I seem to have unusually bad guitar luck at the moment. Often if I buy something it usually has several tall frets or some other playablity issue. Here is some recent stinkers:
* Jackson JS42, without the bridge grounded at all. Actually like this guitar otherwise.
* LTD EC-256, missing a fret marker on the side of the neck. Tuns of tall frets all over the place. Surprised because this brand is usually praised. Must have just gotten a stinker.
* Epiphone ghosthorse, completely unplayable out of the box. 6th string really close to the fretboard edge so you have to be very precise fretting or you will slip off.
* Epiphone "inspired by gibson custom shop" (lol) Explorer. Finish cracked/damaged out of the box. Feel cursed with this brand.

After trying a bunch of cheaper stuff, I am looking for a solid player that won't feel the need to get out the fret leveling board or swap out electronics/pick ups. Tired of playing amateur guitar tech.

So what I am wondering is, what guitars out there are so reliable you would blindly buy one? Or does no such brand exist? Quality seems all over the place for many reasons, but what is the most consistent? What are usually just open the box, tune and start playing guitars? A guitar that wont come with 2mm+ action from the factory. Currently I am sorta thinking of just getting a new RG550 or something. A guitar that is not a cheap POS, but is well built.

Was thinking MIK Schecter, but @BadSeed got a real POS one recently in a video. No brand or factory is perfect, I get that.

I know the best advice is to just play guitars in person before buying, but sometimes there are things you don't notice in the excitement at the store until you get it home, etc. Also a lot of the local shops don't have certain models in stock and you have to take a risk, etc.

Anybody go down the route of just getting a cheaper guitar and getting it plek'ed and setup so there is no bullshit?

If you hard enough you can find a brand new Aria Pro II PE (made in Japan). Those guitars are absolutely the finest made guitars that I can think of.

 

[AltecGreen]

I wanna play.



The OP should slightly stretch their budget and buy one of these depending on the number of strings.

Dragonfly Sottile Custom 7st 666 (12/25) | Reverb

Characterized by a thin, lightweight and original body shape Sottile of (Sottile) 7 A string model is available. Burl maple top, alder back body with maple neck, 666 Scale and fretboard are pau ferro, twenty four Fret specifications. The pickup mounts the original humbucker. coil tap switch Hi/...

reverb.com

dragonfly Sottile Custom 666 Half Matte Natural 2010s Flame Birch | Reverb

Pays and sounds great!Please see pictures for exact condition and details.Soft Case are included.Due to the recent world situation, there are countries where we cannot ship products and countries where we charge additional shipping fees.Therefore, it would be helpful if you could contact us befor...

reverb.com

If the OP is brave, bid on this.

G-Life DSG Standard Royal Blue Turquoise - Yahoo!オークション

商品詳細 メイプルセットネック、軽量な2Pアッシュボディ(約3.4kg)という仕様にフジゲンで製造されていますのでつくりも非常にしっかりしておりお得意のCFSにより濁りの少ない綺麗なコードを奏でます。 ミニスイッチは Tom Andersonとスイッチュルーと同じ機能を持っているため強制ダイレクトリア、各PUのオンオフ、タップと幅広い音づくりが可能。 ボディのカッタウェイが深くセットネックのため24Fも楽々いけます。 ギターの状態はジョイント部分に塗装のクラックがありボディに所々打痕がございます。 傷や

page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp

 

[complex-barb.0t]

I wanna play.



The OP should slightly stretch their budget and buy one of these depending on the number of strings.

Dragonfly Sottile Custom 7st 666 (12/25) | Reverb

Characterized by a thin, lightweight and original body shape Sottile of (Sottile) 7 A string model is available. Burl maple top, alder back body with maple neck, 666 Scale and fretboard are pau ferro, twenty four Fret specifications. The pickup mounts the original humbucker. coil tap switch Hi/...

reverb.com

dragonfly Sottile Custom 666 Half Matte Natural 2010s Flame Birch | Reverb

Pays and sounds great!Please see pictures for exact condition and details.Soft Case are included.Due to the recent world situation, there are countries where we cannot ship products and countries where we charge additional shipping fees.Therefore, it would be helpful if you could contact us befor...

reverb.com

If the OP is brave, bid on this.

G-Life DSG Standard Royal Blue Turquoise - Yahoo!オークション

商品詳細 メイプルセットネック、軽量な2Pアッシュボディ(約3.4kg)という仕様にフジゲンで製造されていますのでつくりも非常にしっかりしておりお得意のCFSにより濁りの少ない綺麗なコードを奏でます。 ミニスイッチは Tom Andersonとスイッチュルーと同じ機能を持っているため強制ダイレクトリア、各PUのオンオフ、タップと幅広い音づくりが可能。 ボディのカッタウェイが深くセットネックのため24Fも楽々いけます。 ギターの状態はジョイント部分に塗装のクラックがありボディに所々打痕がございます。 傷や

page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp

Never heard of these brands. I will check them out.

 

[narad]

I wanna play.



The OP should slightly stretch their budget and buy one of these depending on the number of strings.

Dragonfly Sottile Custom 7st 666 (12/25) | Reverb

Characterized by a thin, lightweight and original body shape Sottile of (Sottile) 7 A string model is available. Burl maple top, alder back body with maple neck, 666 Scale and fretboard are pau ferro, twenty four Fret specifications. The pickup mounts the original humbucker. coil tap switch Hi/...

reverb.com

dragonfly Sottile Custom 666 Half Matte Natural 2010s Flame Birch | Reverb

Pays and sounds great!Please see pictures for exact condition and details.Soft Case are included.Due to the recent world situation, there are countries where we cannot ship products and countries where we charge additional shipping fees.Therefore, it would be helpful if you could contact us befor...

reverb.com

If the OP is brave, bid on this.

G-Life DSG Standard Royal Blue Turquoise - Yahoo!オークション

商品詳細 メイプルセットネック、軽量な2Pアッシュボディ(約3.4kg)という仕様にフジゲンで製造されていますのでつくりも非常にしっかりしておりお得意のCFSにより濁りの少ない綺麗なコードを奏でます。 ミニスイッチは Tom Andersonとスイッチュルーと同じ機能を持っているため強制ダイレクトリア、各PUのオンオフ、タップと幅広い音づくりが可能。 ボディのカッタウェイが深くセットネックのため24Fも楽々いけます。 ギターの状態はジョイント部分に塗装のクラックがありボディに所々打痕がございます。 傷や

page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp

Those are probably the Mitsuoka of guitars.

 

[ThunderUnderground]

What's the "bosozoku" of guitars @narad ?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

What's the Bernie Rico JR of cars?

The Delorean